Source: AHN.

Original article available here.

DHAKA, BANGLADESH, January 15 – The private investment arm of the United States government has come forward for the first time with microfinance credit support for Bangladesh after providing credit support for the power and telecom sectors in the South Asian country, officials said in the capital, Dhaka on Tuesday.

BRAC, the world’s largest NGO (non-government organization) with over 7 million borrowers, has entered into a term financing arrangement involving USD 20 million with Citibank N.A. Bangladesh with the support of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) of the United States.

“All official documentation has already been completed in this connection. We believe the financing should support BRAC’s credit activities and contribute to revival of the rural economy, particularly after the two floods and the devastating cyclone last year,” Shams Zaman, Head of Structured Finance of the Citibank, N.A. in Bangladesh, told AHN in Dhaka on Tuesday.

He also said the OPIC supports infrastructure and economic development of the country.

The local currency fund will be disbursed shortly for revival of the rural economy in the country’s southern region that had been seriously affected by the cyclone in November 2007, they add.

The fund will finance expansion of BRAC’s micro-finance programs, agriculture, rural development and small and medium enterprise (SME) lending portfolios.

By Siddique Islam, AHN.